Windham school roof replacement may get referendum

After significant public outcry, residents may get their wish to vote on whether the town repairs the roof at Natchaug Elementary School.

By FRANCESCA KEFALAS

The Bulletin

By FRANCESCA KEFALAS

Posted Jan. 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 21, 2013 at 9:02 PM

By FRANCESCA KEFALAS

Posted Jan. 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 21, 2013 at 9:02 PM

Windham, Conn.

After significant public outcry, residents may get their wish to vote on whether the town repairs the roof at Natchaug Elementary School.

Dozens of residents urged the Board of Finance to allow them to vote on the $1.3 million project. The board complied by recommending the Town Council call a meeting to be adjourned to referendum.

“Do not play politics with the people who cannot speak for themselves — our children,” said resident John Bazin. “If you don’t want to pass it. If there’s fear there will be backlash, then send it to a vote.”

The Board of Finance had previously rejected the project, asking to see it in context of the school district’s 10-year Master Facilities Plan. However, the board voted to take it out of the plan and send it back to the Town Council once it was presented as part of the plan.

Natchaug Elementary School is now vacant after ceiling tiles collapsed in November 2011. First- through fifth-graders have been moved to a section of Windham Middle School, where they spend their entire school day in their classrooms. Because of space limitations, they have lunch and their specials in the classroom, and when the weather does not allow outside recess, they cannot use the gym facilities.

Town Council members Tom DeVivo and Mark Doyle urged the finance board to move the Natchaug roof project forward. Mayor Ernie Eldridge also asked the board to move the project forward.

“This is a town building,” Eldridge said. “You should be taking care of a town building.”

The Board of Education has filed the necessary paperwork to make the project eligible for state reimbursement of up to 80 percent. The town’s portion, if the project is approved, would be about $315,938.

Andrea Rosario said she used to occasionally have lunch with her child at Natchaug. The new situation means she can no longer have as much interaction with her child or his teachers, Rosario said.

“Please fix this roof so our children can have their school back,” Rosario said. “They are so unhappy with the situation as it is now.”

But not everyone believes the roof should be fixed. Town Council member Tony Fantoli said there are too many other problems with the Natchaug building to sink more money into the building.

Resident Kevin Hoxie said anything that might impact taxes needs to be tabled.

Tracey Lambert, chairman of the Board of Education’s School Planning and Design Committee, said she believes the project would have a tax impact amounting to less than a one-tenth of a mill.

Not fixing the roof also means Natchaug students will stay in the middle school.

“They would be there until at least 2017,” Lambert said. “We would be condemning an entire generation to a less than adequate educational experience.”